Free Directory Submission Makes Your Website Fly…

Here at Perceptant101.com we believe that submitting a customers website to directories is an important part of SEO and if done correctly, will improve their backlinks to the site, search engine rankings and ultimately numbers of visitors. However, there’s nothing stopping you doing this yourself and reaping the rewards…

For the uninitiated, directory submission is the process of submitting your website to the myriad of directories that exist in cyberspace.

If you search Google for “business directories”, you will find there are lots of different types. Some directories require you to pay for a listing, while others don’t. There are thousands of directories that allow free listings. The free listing option is the most popular choice among webmasters and SEO companies. With the free listing option, you don’t have to pay a penny to get your site listed on directories.

The submission process is fairly uncomplicated, usually requiring you to write a title and description of your site, before submitting the URL. One important tip from the Perceptant101 SEO team is that if you’re submitting to multiple directories, you must prepare a variety of titles and descriptions, which will allow you to overcome any duplication problems. Duplicated titles and descriptions can prevent your listing from being indexed. To ensure the listing gets indexed, you must write unique titles and descriptions. By doing this, it will prevent the search engines from suspecting that the directory submission is performed purposely. It also makes the directory submission process more natural. When the search engines perceive that the submission process is natural, they are more willing to index your listing.

It’s paramount that every listing you make is indexed so that the backlink is counted. If you use the same title and description for submission to 500 directories, it’s highly likely that the search engines will not get them indexed. Therefore, each title and description should be completely different and you must write the title and description yourself. You cannot copy them from other listings, which again will also cause duplication problems.

When submitting, ensure you tag the listing with keywords. Tagging the listing with keywords enables users to find it within the directories. If you don’t tag the listing with keywords, visitors won’t be able to find it, period. In isolation, getting your website listed in directories won’t help drive targeted traffic to your site. The only way you will achieve this is if you tag it with relevant keyword. For example, if we use http://www.perceptant101.com as an example, and in this case wish to promote our website design and web development services, we’d include keywords such as website, design, development, web etc.

Free listings are not a speedy process though because after you’ve submitted the site, you typically have to wait for a few months for the editors to review it. It can be approved within 1 day or 1 year! It really depends on the editor and how many submissions they’re dealing with. If the directory has a backlog, you will have to wait your turn. If you want to speed this process up, you can buy the paid listing. The paid listing speeds the approval process up and allows your website to become featured in the search results and sometimes on the homepage.

No matter how you slice the cake, directory submission is a lengthy and tiring process. If you’ve got better things to do with your time, you can enlist help from an SEO company. Amongst other things, an SEO company offers directory submissions at a cheap price. The directory submission is performed by a group of staff that are well versed in search engine optimization. In addition, they will also be familiar with the guidelines for each directory, so your website will get approved within a shorter time period. Different SEO companies charge a different price, so tread carefully and do your research. More often though, just a simple price comparison can save you a lot of time and money.